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Year of election: | 2003 |
Section: | Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences |
City: | Nuthetal |
Country: | Germany |
Hans-Georg Joost published numerous papers in the area of glucose metabolism, obesity and diabetes mellitus. During a stay at the National Institute of Health, USA, as a guest researcher (section of Samuel W. Cushman), he participated in the elucidation of the regulation of glucose transport by insulin and catecholamines. He was director of the Institute of Pharmacology, RWTH Aachen, where his group identified the functionally relevant structural elements of the insulin-sensitive glucose transporter GLUT4. In addition, his group discovered several novel glucose transporter proteins (class II and III sugar transport facilitators) and characterized their function. At the German Institute of Human Nutrition, his group identified several gene variants that predispose for obesity and diabetes of susceptible mouse models. These findings may lead to novel strategies in the prevention and therapy of diabetes mellitus.
Image: Till Budde/DZD